December 29, 2010

I've been working hard on consolidating my makeup and skincare to prepare for my big move back home, to California! It was funny that Catalina blogged about having too much beauty stuff this Christmas [read the post here] because it coincided with my packing up my beauty stuffs and yelling to my family, "Why do I have so much junk?!" Luckily I bought the UNII palettes when I did, even though I think they're too small [read review here].

The following pictures are my entire collection of makeup and skincare products. Since I'm in packing mode, I'm going to divide my collection into what I use every day, what I'm taking on the road, and the stuff I'm packing away. I did have a lot of individual packages, palettes, and compacts, but I've worked real hard to consolidate a lot of it.

December 23, 2010

My Kindred Spirit in San Francisco is one of 3 people who I consider my closest and dearest friends, and with whom I can just let loose and be myself. I can't believe how fast time has passed us by. It was only yesterday that she was showing me around my new high school and in the blink of an eye I'm saying I've known her going on 16 years!

I received a Christmas package from my KS today in which included the following:

A beautiful purse with LOTSA pockets - the key to being a PERFECT purse!
Oh, yes, I am using this purse starting 5 minutes ago! Haha!

*drools!* Skincare & makeup! You can bet reviews are forthcoming.
Look at that tube of lipgoss! Swatches are definitely coming!

I love passion fruit scented anything! And look at the pearlescent glow!
I hope I come out of the shower glowing like a pearl, too! ^_^

Haha, my baby is wondering what's going on.
KS is the only person in the world who I can share my love of
paranormal romances. ^_^ Who can resist a sexy vampire, huh?

Detailing on the purse. This is part of a key chain!
Wooo! I am definitely putting my keys on this baby
when I get back to beautiful California! Hehehe!

Thank you to my Kindred Spirit! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'll be seeing you when I get back to California! ^_^

****This post is organized under Retail Therapy, even though everything in this post is a gift from my KS.****

I picked up a bar of Basis sensitive skin bar from Wal-Mart before Thanksgiving. They were having a promotion or something because my bar is 5.3 oz for $1.97 USD.

I use the bar soap with this facial sponge for gentle daily exfoliation.

The Claims

This very caring, ultra pure formula does more than clean sensitive skin. Natural calming agents chamomile and aloe vera soothe and comfort skin. No fragrances, dyes or other harsh ingredients. Rinses completely. Leaves skin clean, calm and comfortable. No wonder dermatologists recommend it. Use daily. Work up lather. Rinse well.

I like to do my product reviews claim-by-claim.

Soothing and comforting skin

Using this product has not irritated my skin in any way. My skin actually feels quite nice, smooth and calm, like falling asleep on a clean cotton pillow.

Rinses completely

My skin literally sqeeeeeaaaks using this product and I don't get that irritating dry, tight feeling afterwards. The first few times I used this though, it felt like there was a waxy residue left on my skin, which caused my skin to turn extra oily. However my skin has gotten used to it and the oil has lessened.

Leaves skin clean

I believe so. I don't really use makeup remover - although I should - but I've done the toner and cotton ball test and my face has still come out clean. Since this product doesn't irritate my skin, I would have to agree that this leaves my skin calm and comfortable.

December 20, 2010

I won this palette from a contest hosted by the wonderful Sue Lynn (get to know more about her on her blog and youtube channel) back in March/April this year. This is post is long overdue and I am determined to get this done before next year!

Stila advertises that this Contouring Trio has multiple uses, which there are. This palette and trio of colors can be used to contour and highlight your face in day and night settings. These shadows can also be used as eyeshadow. May I also suggest a brow shader?

December 16, 2010

...mmmm... The formatting for this blog is totally off. I dunno how to fix it!

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to dress up my monolid eyes. My eyes are such that I often think lining the upper lash line, or tight lining, or mascara is futile at best. Sometimes, I trick myself into believing there is a difference. :-P

When I say it's mini, I really mean it! I added Wet n Wild to my collection for the convention in Las Vegas earlier this month. While I mean this to be a swatch post, I will also include some thoughts on these 2 products.

Without a primer, these pigmented colors crease on me after 3 or 4 hours.

H2O Proof Liquid Eyeliner in # 881 Ultra Black/Ultra-noir

This is my very first ever liquid eyeliner! The product packaging says it's perfect for a day at the beach or night on the town. It uses a felt tip applicator and is long-lasting, smudge-proof, and water-proof...so it says.

Personally, I have yet to meet an eye product that is smudge-proof and long-lasting. Water-proof is fine but my problem is that these products aren't oil-proof. This liquid eyeliner doesn't last more than 3 hours on me without a primer. I've been trying it out with my Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and have come to the (disappointing) realization that this eyeliner and I are not meant to be. The TFSI doesn't keep it from disintegrating into my crease, it only contains the smudging and smearing to a minimal area. =_= *sadness*

December 12, 2010

In preparation for my 2 UNII palettes that I purchased on Friday, I've started practicing how to depot my shadows. I depotted several shadows, some with remarkable success and some without as much success, but I did it all without needing to throw anything away.

I took out the dividers that hold the brushes and glued in the depotted products with a hot glue gun. This palette is perfect for me right now because it holds everything that I'd need for a full face. ^_^

I really hope I don't ruin any of my Tarte shadows when my UNII palettes come!

My thoughts regarding the claims for concealing
This is by far one of the best concealers I've used! It conceals my undereye darkness without looking cakey, without settling into fine lines, and without looking like obvious concealer. I dunno if it hydrates, but it definitely does not dry my skin. These qualities also make the concealer ideal for covering blemishes. It has great coverage and eliminates the concealer/imperfection color code. My personal preference is to apply concealer right before the setting powder or powder foundations. The only problem I have is that I chose a shade that is too light for my skin, so I have to apply this very sparingly to avoid the entire "white blotches on my face" effect.

My thoughts regarding the claims for highlighting
Yes, it does add a hint of luminous touch to my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose, but it's almost imperceptible. Xteeener mentioned a while ago that she didn't think very highly of the highlighter. I am in agreement with her. However, I think that the highlighter could be a base under a powdered highlighter. I'm not going to try it because my face is naturally oily and the last thing I need is to look shiny.

I would definitely buy the concealer part again (in the proper shade!)

December 08, 2010

I am revamping this post because the messiness of the original format is getting on my nerves. Also, now is a good time for a Product Review.

I received my Tarte Jewelry Box at the beginning of November. It looks great on the website and is truly a fantastic value. For $52, you get 47 different makeup products plus a multi-strand necklace. I like looking at the necklace but know I won't wear it any time soon. Necklaces make me feel as if my head is swelling from blocking the blood flow in my jugular veins... Yeah, I'm weird, I know.

I won't be able to justify another cosmetic purchase for the next 5 years. There's just so much product and every day is a new makeup adventure!

It is now the beginning of December and I have developed a love/hate relationship with this box. I love it because this is all-inclusive. I can get everything I need, such as: eyebrow shades, eye shadows, blush shades, highlights, contour, bronzer, eyeliners, eyeshadow base, lip glosses, and extra room for travel sized brushes when you remove the gold tray holding the eyeliners. The shadows are pigmented and buildable. The shadows are a little on the softer side because they powderize <-- I honestly can't find a word to describe it when I dip my brush in the pan. The lip glosses are amazingly pigmented and moisturizing. The highlighter is my favorite because it has pink and gold shimmers but isn't overbearing. I love this box because it has everything I need. I just wish the pans were removable...

I hate this box because it is the damnedest, most awkward box ever. The top lid flips up to reveal a large mirror, but the attached necklace makes it noisy and heavy. The top level of shimmering shadows is glued to the side panels of the box and opens by swinging out like double French doors or the suicide doors of a Honda Element. This means that you cannot have anything near or around this box sharing your vanity top. This also means that if you don't open the top layer all the way, you won't be able to access some of the matte shadows on the second level. Yep, just put this box on its own little pedestal, all alone. The lip gloss drawer slides out too easily and again, don't even bother putting this box near your collection of other skincare and cosmetics. It requires a large surface area. Also, the worst thing about this box is that there is just ONE magnet holding the front flap closed and it is a weak magnet at that. This box is not travel friendly.

I'm not going to do a swatch of this product because other bloggers and youtubers have covered it. The links are below.

Just for kicks, this is what the last drawer with eyeliner originally looks like.

The eyeliners are awesome, btw. They are pigmented and creamy and so easy to take if you're traveling. In fact, it's easy to make these eyeliners the only thing you'll need for eye makeup when you travel. They're that good.

Okay, anyways, when you take the gold tray out, you open up a lot of space for extra goodies. I like my Sonia Kashuk travel brushes because they're flat and they fit. You could also put cotton tips and other stuff in there.